US waives $11m fine for Southwest Airlines over 2022 holiday meltdown | Trump administration

The Trump administration said on Saturday it will waive an $11m fine imposed on Southwest Airlines as part of a $140m settlement over the carrier’s meltdown in December 2022 during a busy holiday travel period.

Southwest in December 2023 agreed to pay a $35m cash fine over three years over the airline’s handling of the meltdown that stranded more than 2 million passengers. It also agreed to provide $90m in travel vouchers of $75 or more to passengers delayed at least three hours getting to final destinations because of an airline-caused issue or cancellation.

Southwest decided to invest more than $1bn in its operations to improve performance and reliability since the 2022 meltdown. And the US transportation department in a written order cited that decision by the airline in explaining why it was waiving off the remaining $11m of the fine that was due by the end of January.